On Thursday, May 29, the Becker Lady Bulldogs softball team played in the Section 5AAA final against St. Francis. The Saints made it there by advancing through the consolation bracket with three straight wins.  Becker needed just a single win, while the Saints would need to defeat the Bulldogs twice to advance.  

Game One

In the opening game, the Saints came ready to play and put up two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take the 2-0 lead.  

Becker would match their runs in the top of the third when Josewski and Petty singled and scored on a Duncombe single to knot the game at 2-2.  

In the bottom of the fifth, the Saints retook the lead with three runs.  The Bulldogs would come back to cut the lead to 5-3.  However, Sydney Borchardt would close things out in the seventh and a second game would be necessary.  

Game Two

After a 20 minute break, the Bulldogs made it clear that they had put game one in the rearview mirror by scoring three first inning runs.  

Over the next five innings, both teams would threaten, but each time the defense would make plays to keep the score at 3-0.  Finally in the bottom of the sixth, the Saints broke through the Bulldog defense using two doubles and a triple to make the score 3-2.  Cook would strand a runner at third and the Bulldogs would head to the seventh hanging onto the one run lead.  

After a scoreless top of the seventh, the Saints came up looking to keep their season alive.  After loading the bases, a weak grounder to second baseman Kenley Nicolas was fielded and fired to Bella Hunter at first base, ending the game and sending Becker to the 2025 state tournament.  

Cook got the win going all seven innings.  Nicolas was three-for-three at the plate.  Cook and Ergen each had two hits as well.

Vs. Rocori

Becker received the #4 seed at state and their first opponent was #5 seed, Rocori.  The game was an epic state tournament game with both pitchers battling for 14 innings.  

The Bulldogs would get on the board first for a 1-0 lead and would remain there until the top of the seventh inning when the Spartans put thier leadoff batter on with a bunt single and then used a Bulldog error and another single to tie the game at one and send it to extra innings.

By the 13th inning the Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out but failed to score.

The Spartans rallied in the 14th and plated a run to make the score 2-1, which would hold up in the bottom of the inning and move Rocori on to the state semifinals.  Cook had a dominant performance throwing 14 innings and allowing only six hits and zero walks while striking out 20 batters.

Vs. Simley

The loss would give the Bulldogs a quick turnaround as they had about 90 minutes off before taking on Simley in a consolation semifinal.  This time the Bulldogs would again jump to an early lead, 3-0.  

The Bulldog offense couldn’t muster any more runs, but Jaimee Cook would make sure that three runs was enough as she shut down the Simley offense all game long.  She finished with seven innings pitched, giving up two hits and one walk while striking out 11.  Peters went two-for-three with a double and an RBI.

Vs. CDH

The win moved the Bulldogs into the consolation championship against a familiar foe in Cretin-Derham Hall.  The Bulldogs and Raiders met in the state quarterfinals in 2021, a 2-0 win, and again in 2023, a 1-0 loss.  

In what became a recurring theme, it was another pitchers duel as Jaimee Cook and her future college teammate, Brooke Nesdahl, both kept their opponents hitless and scoreless through three innings.  

In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Raiders would get their first hit and followed it with a stolen base and a single to make the score 1-0.  

The score was still 1-0 in the top of the sixth when Kenley Nicolas and Ady Petty reached base to lead off the inning, however a pop-up, fielder’s choice and caught stealing ended the threat.  

The Raiders added an insurance run in the bottom of the inning and held on for the 2-0 win. Cook again threw a complete game allowing two runs on four hits while striking out seven batters.

The Bulldogs finished the season with a record of 17-11, Section 5AAA champions, and a sixth place finish at state.  The state tournament championship would be won by the Rocori Spartans, who followed up their 14-inning win with an upset of #1 seed Mankato East before defeating Byron in the state championship game.